A group of Orthodox priests and members of the religious organization “Pro Ortodoxia” insist that Parliament should have consulted the Church before including December 25 in the list of official holidays. They accuse the authorities of becoming involved in the affairs of the Church on the pretext of ensuring the observance of the rights of certain minorities.
In a news conference at IPN, deacon priest Ghenadie Valuta, who leads “Pro Ortodoxia”, said the coming closer to the EU is the greatest temptation for the Orthodox world of Moldova and this trend imposes indirectly the reformation of religion and the Moldovan traditions. They also aim to transform the traditions typical of the birth of Christ into a commercial Christmas.
Ghenadie Valuta said the Parliament’s decision to declare December 25 a nonworking day aims to gradually eliminate the tradition of celebrating Christmas on January 7. “It’s absurd to celebrate the birthday or the Independence Day two times a year. At a certain moment, in order not to mock at us for this ‘feast-related kolkhoz’ and on the pretext of Europeanization, they will demand celebrating Christmas on December 25, as in the EU,” said the priest.
He added that from historical viewpoint, January 7 was set for celebrating the birth of Christ by the first Ecumenical Synod in 325. Since then, there was held no international synod to annul this date. The Churches of Jerusalem, Georgia, Serbia and of the Athos Mountain kept the style set by the First Synod and continue to observe Christmas on January 7.
According to Ghenadie Valuta, from moral viewpoint no government has the right to change the religious traditions of a state. The feasts marked according to the Julian (old) calendar didn’t create liturgical problems, while a number of miracles that coincide with certain feast days show once again that the Orthodox Christians should follow namely this calendar.
